


I Found You

by Youshouldreadthis



Series: I'm With You (Faberry) [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Gen, High School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29113155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youshouldreadthis/pseuds/Youshouldreadthis
Summary: On her journey towards acceptance and comfort, she found love in an unexpected place.OrRachel and Santana get close through their insecurities.
Relationships: Artie Abrams/Brittany S. Pierce, Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson, Rachel Berry/Santana Lopez, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Series: I'm With You (Faberry) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166516
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1- Feelings suck

_Freaking Artie Wheels Abrams_. She gritted her teeth at the mere thought of the boy. Brittany had chosen him. It didn't matter that she had bared her heart and soul to her in song, she wouldn't leave him even though she claimed to love her too. It sucked and it hurt like hell. She was beginning to wish she hadn't done it in the first place. It was the reason she was all boarded up. She hated feeling things. She hated … _feelings._

She did whatever she could to avoid the site of the pair. She avoided all of her text messages and made sure she sat where she couldn't see them. Heck, she even ignored Quinn when she'd suggest they should hang out after practice or when she'd send a text in their Unholy Trinity group chat. She figured the less she saw her, the less it would hurt which, was true .. to a point. But she only had so much control over her thoughts and feelings and she couldn't help the tears that betrayed her when the thoughts and feelings overwhelmed her.

She'd tried out different lunch spots to hide from the world. First she'd tried sitting to the back of the cafeteria with a group of randoms but either the Gleeks or the Cheerios would give her weird looks and ask her to join them. Then she had tried the library, but no amount of 'going Lima Heights' would let the Librarian be cool with her trying to sneak in a bite since the library followed an annoyingly strict no food policy. By some act of the heavens, she struck gold on her third find. The dressing room in the auditorium. It was clean, quiet and most importantly empty.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, she'd make a quick beeline for her locker, switch out her books for her next class and hightail it to the auditorium. It had been her safe haven for the last two days and it would remain that way for however longer she needed it.


	2. Chapter 2

She could not believe it. After years of training, countless of hours of practice and summer bootcamps, she'd choked like none of it even mattered. It wasn't the fact that she'd made a mistake. It was more the fact that she wasn't able to recover from it. She was Rachel Barbra Berry, for Pete's sake, everyone expected the best from her, _she_ expected the best from herself. 

She'd had the weekend to wallow in her shame, but it was Monday now and she had every intention of hiding away and continue. She'd managed to avoid most of her friends and the many questions they had about her vocal recital in New York. She'd managed to use 'not wanting to be late to her next class' as an excuse, even ignoring the notes Kurt tried to send her during class because she was _too focused_ on the lesson. But lunch was fast approaching and she knew she would have to come up with a plan to avoid them then.

She spent the last few minutes of class with her eyes fixed on the clock, her feet bouncing as she managed to slowly packed her things away without her teacher noticing. As soon as the bell rang she rushed to her feet, slinging her bag over her shoulder and pulling her books tightly to her chest. She managed to rush out of the room and into the busy hallway before anyone could say a word to her, feeling a little relieved as she got lost in the flood of students. She praised her brilliant mind for bringing lunch from home as she followed her feet to wherever they would bringing her.

\---

Santana's day was going as well as it could considering everything happening in her life at the moment. She had gotten to school extra early for a Cheerios 'strategic meeting' .. whatever the heck that meant. She sat off to the side and listened to Sue hassle herself and the rest of the cheerleaders for their low energy at recent practices and the need for, what Santana would consider, an unnecessarily stricter diet for all flyers including herself. As one of the more senior cheerleaders on the team she knew Sue would be relying one her, Quinn and Brittany to enforce these and a couple more of her ridiculous rules.

As her day went on she'd managed to get through her morning classes with more or less ease. She had Calculus first thing in the morning and as much as she enjoyed math, it was certainly not something she looked forward to doing at 8:30 in the morning. Despite dozing off a bit in between she'd managed to understand what the old lady was going on about before making doodles in her notebook lost again in her own head. Spanish next period was super breezy. It was easy to hide out in that class as Mr. Schue spent most of his time trying to get the kids to listen and take him seriously.

Soon enough it was time for what she was starting to consider her favorite part of her day … Santana time. With a quick wave over her shoulder to Quinn and a promise to sit with her in Glee after school, she'd made her way to her locker and then to her sanctuary that was the dressing room. But something was off. The door was partially opened and she could hear muffled sounds. Of all the things she'd experienced in her almost 17 years, this was by for the most surprising thing that she's seen.

Sitting on the floor in the corner of the small room was a sad looking Berry. Her eyes were glossed and her cheeks stained with tears. She did not notice Santana enter as she dazed off in the distance, lost in her own thoughts. As much as she was concerned for the smaller girl, she overcame the urge to go near her and instead she plopped down, rather loudly, in a chair in front of the wide mirrors. 

The sound must've caught Rachel's attention as she was now staring, rather wide-eyed, at the back of Santana's head. She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of any bad feelings before rubbing harshly at her eyes trying to make her tears disappear in an attempt to regain her usual composure.

Santana ignored her, or at least, she tried to. She trying focusing her attention on the snacks in front of her and her hands that sat in her lap. She couldn't help the way her brows knitted in concern and her eyes fleeted to the mirror to look at the girl cradled on the floor. After a few minutes of a rather intense internal debate as to what to do she drew in a thin breath and let it out rather harshly.

"Berry," she let out, trying to keep her voice even. "Are you okay?" she continued without raising her eyes to meet the smaller girl. She was not used to showing sympathy or concern, especially to the likes of Rachel Barbara Berry, but the girl looked so … sad that she could not help it.

Taken aback, Rachel just looked up at Santana unsure of how exactly to respond. She knew the girl had a fire personality and her fragile state could not do with an onslaught of vicious words that she knew the other girl was easily capable of. She swallowed nervously, blinking slowly as she thought carefully.

"Just a bad weekend," she responded, her voice small with the weight of the emotions she was trying hard to keep in. She looked down in anticipation of Santana's response, and for a while there was none. Until …

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said in a monotonous voice. 

Shocked at what she was hearing, Rachel looked up to find brown eyes looking back at her in the mirror. Though her voice had bin rid of emotion, she could see in her eyes that she meant what she had said. Their gaze only met for a brief moment before Santana looked down again. "I hope your week gets better," she spoke again, her voice fuller than before.

A small smile played on Rachel's lips as she continued to look at the other girl in the mirror. Those were probably the nicest words she'd ever heard her speak before and she'd know her since middle school. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, oddly finding comfort in the simple words. 

The two of them sat and ate in silence for the rest of the lunch period. Neither making any moves to communicate with the other. Their eyes occasionally glanced up to look at each other through the window, their gazes only missing by a few seconds. When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, they packed away their things and went their own way to their next class.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Classes are over and it's time for Glee.

It was almost time for Glee and she found it difficult to go through the afternoon without thinking about Berry. She hated that her instincts wanted to care for the midget like some Mama bear who couldn't find her cub. She wonders what could have made Rachel so down that she had to resort to isolating herself in a dressing room to cry. Then she realized that not too long ago she was in that very same situation.

'Finn has the emotional depth of a plank of a wood,' she thinks. Perhaps Berry's issue does lie in her suckish love life. She pushed her thoughts aside and made her way down the hallway towards the choir room. Berry wasn't there yet, which was certainly odd. She was usually one of the first persons in the choir room. As usual the room was a abuzz with conversation. Mike and Finn were going over a dance number at the center of the room, with Blaine watching along encouragingly, while Puck and Sam were playing guitar and singing acoustic covers of old rock hits. The others were busy with their own small group conversations. As she made her way through the doorway, she weighed her options.

_'If I sit with Quinn, I sit with Brittany and by default Artie and I can barely handle seeing just Brittany right now so .. '_

As the last thought crossed her mind she halted her movements and landed herself in the first row directly opposite from them. She did not even bothering to look back at them, she just couldn't. She had sat herself in the seat right next to .. Kurt .. _perfect_. She cringed inwardly at herself before sneaking a glance at Kurt and Mercedes, who was sat right next to him. They were eyeing her cautiously with confused faces. She shot them the fakest smile she could muster before rolling her eyes slightly and slouching deeper into her chair. She reached under her Cheerio's skirt and pulled out her phone. She sometimes liked to tuck it in her spankies when her backpack was in the locker room, like now, or for when she just was on the move or needed to be sneaky.

She wiped at the screen and immediately maneuvered her way onto Instagram. The annual Fall fashion shows were coming up and she always enjoyed the Pre-show looks that various artists and models would drop on her feed. She got lost on her feed, going from page to page that she did not even notice that from her side, Kurt and Mercedes still had their eyes on her .. observing her. That was, until she heard them.

"OMG! Is that Billy Porter?!" Kurt questioned in a screech that was unusually high even for him. She turned her head slowly to face them to find that their eyes were now glued to her phone screen. I

"Uhhh .. yea it is," she said once the initial shock had died down, "you guys fans?" she asked with a smirk.

"Fans? OFCOURSE we are!" Kurt exclaimed while Mercedes nodded enthusiastically. "I didn't peg YOU for a fan though", he continued with a look of disbelief and a ping of amusement.

"Fan? Pfft, I've met the guy," she bragged with the cocky roll of her eyes.

Kurt's eyes grew the size of saucers and was about to say something when Mr. Schue walked in with a folder in his hand gesturing for everyone to get seated and quiet down.

"Alright guys! I know Sectionals is still many weeks away but .." his voice trailed as he looked around the room, his forehead creasing as his eyes continued to scan. "Where's Rachel?" he finally asked.

Santana's brows furrowed to match his countenance, before she quickly schooled her features. _'Rachel skipped Glee?!'_ By the looks of the faces of everyone in the room she could assume that they were all just as surprised as she was.

"Finn?" Mr. Schue called out, "Do you know where she is?" he asked as all eyes moved to the boy in question. She internally rolled her eyes. Finn had on his 'concentration' face. His eyes were looking up to the heavens and his tongue jutted out against his upper lip as he scrambled through his brain for info on the whereabouts of his off-again on-again girlfriend.

"Uhhh .. dunno," he finally responded. The shrug of his shoulders saying that it wasn't a big deal but his raised left brow indicating that he was at the very least curious.

 _'Maybe it had something to do with her being in the dressing room today .. and maybe it didn't have to do with Finn after all?'_ Whatever it was that was keeping Rachel away from Glee today, Santana was sure that she did not want her friends to know.

"Maybe we should call her?" Kurt suggested bringing everyone's focus back to the room and out of their disorganized thoughts. The others in the room nodded and hummed their agreement. Except Santana.

"NO!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she had intended, cringing a little at the tone and emotion displayed in her voice. She cleared her throat before carefully continuing feeling as a though a blazing spotlight was now being shone upon her. "I met her on her way out .. she said she couldn't make it today and that she'd talk to you guys tomorrow," she said with a nod at the end, satisfied with what she was able to come up with given the situation.

The others look skeptical, especially Finn and Mr. Schue, but they all seemed to be willing to let it go .. for now. They were probably trying to piece together whether or not Sue and the Cheerios were already up to no good this early in the school year, but pointing fingers without evidence would do no good. But that wouldn't stop their inner wheels from turning and Santana could handle that much.

She didn't think she could do with anymore lying for the girl. She didn't even know why she was doing it in the first place. Mr. Schue began his usual spiel in an attempt to get them to sing outdated love songs, with a few protests from some of the Glee members. Santana was too dazed to make any snarky comments or to focus on any of the discussions.

* * *

Glee was over and the Cheerios practice that followed was enough to have Santana deep under the sheets of her bed. Her father was still at work and her mom was in the kitchen wiping up some pozole for dinner. It was her dad's favorite and her mother liked to treat to him every now and then with good food after long hours at the hospital. He was a general surgeon who often worked long hours in the ER, which sometimes meant spending many hours away from his family. Her mother worked regular hours as an elementary school teacher and so they often had dinners alone without her father. It hurt sometimes, but they understood it, they understood each other.

She had homework to finish, but her body was still exhausted from her day. She figured she could just gain some energy from dinner to get her going. She let out a deep sigh, staring through a gap between the pile of pillows she had stacked on top of her. Her ceiling was filled with small stars that lit up her otherwise dark room. They had been there ever since she was a little girl, too afraid of the dark to close both of her eyes and stay away from her parents' bed.

She hadn't had a bad day at school. Brittany had stopped trying to reach out, finally respecting the space that she was trying to set for herself. She wasn't behind in any of her classes and she was surprisingly okay with the weekly assignment from Glee club. It wasn't a bad day, but that isn't to say it wasn't a strange one. Only one thing .. no .. one person made it that way. _Rachel Barbara Berry._

She sighed and sat up on her bed, letting the pillows and sheets slide right off of her. She still felt as though there was one more thing she needed to do. She didn't care .. she _shouldn't_ care. But she'll do it anyway, just to get her stupid brain to shut up. Or at least that was the excuse she was holding on to. She felt for her phone under the sheets and once she found it she went to the Glee group chat and scrolled through its members until she saw her name. She opened a new chat and sent the girl a short message.

Once it was done and over with she groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and onto her feet, stretching her limbs from floor to ceiling as she did. By the smell of it, dinner was almost ready and her stomach could not wait to be filled. Tomorrow would be an interesting day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel's evening.

As soon as the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Rachel made her way straight for the doors. She had no intention of going to Glee today. Hiding from her friends was exhausting and she just wanted to go home and feel the comfort of her cotton pillows and satin sheets.

As exhausting a day as it was, she had to admit that her lunch was … surprisingly pleasant. She never thought the day would come when she would describe time spent alone with Santana Lopez as pleasant. Heck, she never thought she would survive a one on one encounter with the girl.

She let out a sigh of relief as she pushed open her front door. It was the earliest she'd been home from school in a while. Her fathers were still at work so she had a couple of hours to herself.

She spent most of her evening scrolling through Broadway performances on Youtube before eventually growing frustrated with herself. Ordinarily she found pleasure in watching these performances. She kept a record of almost every performer she'd watched along with notes on their various performances and performing styles. But today, all she could think about while she watched was how much a failure she was.

She had always prided herself as a perfectionist and no matter the situation, she always gave her all whenever she step foot on stage. Whether it was the 3x3 plywood on her neighbor's porch with family and friends watching or the nationals stage with hundreds watching her, she was going to knock everyone's socks off with a Rachel Berry performance.

'Where had that Rachel Berry gone?' she sighed to herself as she blankly stared off into the distance. Her hands sat on her chest as it rose and fell with her slow, deep-in-thought breathing. She know it was unfair of herself to have such expectations, but she could not help it. Some may find her obsession and dedication to her craft annoying and over the top, but she knew that it always came with extraordinary results .. or at least it did. She shook her head to chase away the swarming thoughts. They were beginning to feel grey and heavy and she knew how easy it was for them to overwhelm her.

Maybe she needed .. a break? Maybe that was it. A cheat day .. days? No... it was definitely practice. She needed more practice and taking today off was already setting her back by miles.

As for today, she was already at it so, might as well commit .. right? She popped in the disk of one of her favorite Broadway movies and fished in her backpack for one of her textbooks. Broadway and World History homework ... that should do it.

* * *

Her parents were back and busy in the kitchen preparing dinner together. She could hear them singing and laughing together and knew they'd be calling her down to eat any minute now. They respected her privacy and tried to give her time to herself to do as she pleases, but they also insisted on dedicated family time and mandatory meals together was one way they achieved that.

The musical was halfway through its second run and her homework was now mostly completed. It would have been done already had her mind and thoughts cooperated with her. As if she had not given herself enough to do with the movie and the homework. She sighed.

She couldn't help but think about her lunch time encounter. She had so many questions, but she knew better than to think she was in any position to ask some of them. After all, spending almost an hour together with someone in an agreeable silence doesn't really give someone any leeway.

"Rachel, dinner's almost ready! Can you come down and set the table please," she heard her father Hiram below from the kitchen.

"Will be right down!" she called out in reply. Quickly and neatly she put away the book and stack of papers she had scattered on her bed and switched off the television in her room. She was on her way to her doorway when she heard a double beep tone coming from her phone. Her forehead crinkled in confusion. All of her close friends and important chats had special tones dedicated to them, so this message was certainly out of the ordinary.

She went back to her bed where her phone was laying and unlocked it to find out who was trying to reach her. The message came from an unsaved number, but from the message alone she could tell who had sent it and she could not help the warmth that filled her chest and floated down to the depths of her stomach as she read it.

"I don't know what happened and you do not have to tell me, but whatever it is ... it'll pass ... you'll get through it Rachel. Also, don't worry about Glee, I covered for you."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Glee or these characters.  
> Britanna for life but just this once I'll stray.


End file.
